Johannesburg (AFP) – Gambia, the outsiders who took Africa by storm this year when reaching the Cup of Nations quarter-finals, edged Chad 1-0 on Wednesday in their first step toward reaching the 2023 finals. The Scorpions left it late in Yaounde with United Arab Emirates-based forward Steve Trawally scoring in the 89th minute to win […]

London (AFP) – Chelsea fans will be able to attend Champions League and FA Cup matches for the rest of the season under the terms of a new licence granted to the club by the UK government. The European champions have been hit by a series of restrictions since owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by […]

Paris (AFP) – Substitute Agnese Bonfantini fired Juventus to the greatest win of their short existence on Wednesday as the Italians came from behind to beat Lyon 2-1 in the first leg of their Women's Champions League quarter-final. Seven-time champions Lyon took an early lead through Brazilian forward Catarina Macario and were huge favourites as […]

Lausanne (AFP) – Russia is among the candidates to host the European Championship in either 2028 or 2032 despite being banned from international sport following the invasion of Ukraine, UEFA announced after Wednesday's deadline to declare an interest passed. Russia and Turkey will go up against a joint bid by the United Kingdom and the […]

Palermo (Italy) (AFP) – Giorgio Chiellini said on Wednesday that he wants to close his Italy career by taking the Azzurri to the World Cup and scrubbing out his bad experiences in football's biggest competition. Captain Chiellini was part of the Italy side which missed out on the 2018 tournament in Russia. But after shaking […]

London (AFP) – Gareth Bale has set his sights on leading Wales to the World Cup for the first time in 64 years after declaring himself fit for the play-off semi-final against Austria. Bale missed Real Madrid's defeat against Barcelona on Sunday with a minor niggle, but the Wales captain is ready to face Austria […]

Burton-on-Trent (United Kingdom) (AFP) – England captain Harry Kane said the Three Lions will use their platform to raise awareness of human rights issues at the World Cup in Qatar later this year. Under the leadership of England manager Gareth Southgate, Kane and his international team-mates have consistently made a stand against racism. Despite initially […]

London (AFP) – Everton winger Andros Townsend will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury, the relegation-threatened Premier League club announced on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was forced off in the early stages of Everton's 4-0 FA Cup defeat at his former team Crystal Palace on Sunday. A scan revealed former England […]

London (AFP) – The Ricketts family has insisted it rejects all forms of hate after Chelsea fans and an ex-player voiced concerns over the bid by the Chicago Cubs owners to buy the Premier League club. The family is one of a number of parties who have expressed an interest in taking over from Russian […]

London (AFP) – The football associations of England, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland and Wales on Wednesday formally submitted their joint bid to host Euro 2028 to European governing body UEFA. The "Expression of Interest" comes on deadline day, with The Times in London reporting earlier this week that the UK and Ireland […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United great Wayne Rooney and former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira were Wednesday inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame. The pair are the ninth and 10th players named in the select group, joining David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Dennis Bergkamp, Frank Lampard, Roy Keane, Eric Cantona, Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer. […]

London (AFP) – Manchester United have held "positive" talks with Ajax coach Erik ten Hag about the vacant manager's job at Old Trafford, it was reported on Wednesday. Ralf Rangnick has been in charge of the misfiring Premier League giants on an interim basis since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in November after nearly three years […]

Sydney (AFP) – Under-strength Australia need courage and fight to beat Japan and keep their hopes of automatically qualifying for the Qatar World Cup alive, assistant coach Rene Meulensteen said Wednesday. The Socceroos face a must-win clash in Sydney on Thursday but the odds are stacked against them after a disastrous build-up. Coach Graham Arnold tested […]

Montevideo (AFP) – Ecuador will try to break a historic hoodoo Thursday when they travel to Paraguay seeking the point that would book their ticket to the World Cup in Qatar later this year. In eight previous World Cup qualifiers away to Paraguay, going back to 1981, Ecuador have lost every single one. If they […]

Paris (AFP) – The World Cup hopes of the last two European champions are on a knife edge with Portugal and Italy on a collision course in decisive qualifying play-offs over the next week. A potential clash in Porto between the Euro 2016 winners, captained by Cristiano Ronaldo, and an Italy team who succeeded them […]